Red Wings set high asking price for Gustav Nyquist, Jimmy Howard

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings wrapped up five days of organizational meetings Monday in Florida, where many areas were covered from amateur to professional ranks.

The most pressing topic: What to do by the Feb. 25 trade deadline.

The Red Wings, 13 points out of the final playoff spot, will be sellers. To what extent remains to be seen. They have some pending unrestricted free agents that would draw interest, namely Gustav Nyquist and Jimmy Howard.

The Red Wings, according to someone with knowledge of the situation, have set a high asking price for each player – a first-round pick. They don’t expect to get that for either.

That’s why they will try to re-sign Howard and Nyquist.

Nothing is on the front burner, but general manager Ken Holland should begin working the phones in earnest during the team’s nine-day hiatus (the All-Star break and their bye week), which follows the upcoming three-game Western Canada trip.

The Red Wings decided long ago they wanted to bring back Howard, probably on a two-year deal. They are happy with his performance. They don’t view Jonathan Bernier as a potential starter. None of their prospects (Filip Larsson, Keith Petruzzelli, Kaden Fulcher) is close to being NHL-ready and Howard is much better than what they have in Grand Rapids (Patrik Rybar, Harri Sateri).

Trading Howard and then re-signing him on July 1 has been a possibility, but if they hold firm on their demand of a first-rounder, he’s not likely to be moved.

The Red Wings’ desire to re-sign Nyquist appears to be a new development. Earlier in the season, it was widely assumed, including by some in the organization, that he would be dealt by the deadline, for whatever they could get, if he waived his no-trade clause.

They like his skills, but it would cost in excess of $5 million per season on a three- or four-year deal to retain him. Contract aside, they will have a log-jam of young top-six forwards with Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi, Andreas Athanasiou already in that role, Michael Rasmussen projected to get there and prospects Filip Zadina, Evgeny Svechnikov and Joe Veleno possibly being NHL-ready next season.

And if they get a top-five pick in this year’s draft they’re apt to use it on a forward who will either be NHL-ready or close.

Nyquist was told last summer that the first three months of the season would be like an audition. He apparently passed it, with 11 goals and 40 points in 48 games.

The Red Wings received first-, second- and third-round picks from Vegas last year for Tomas Tatar, but he had three years remaining on his deal. They wouldn’t get anything close to that for a rental like Nyquist.

So, unless the club accepts less than a first-rounder, he could be re-signed, if the sides agree on a deal.

The Red Wings have other players set to become unrestricted this summer. They would like to re-sign Nick Jensen, a reliable low-cost option for a team that will be losing some veterans over the next year or two (Niklas Kronwall, Trevor Daley, Jonathan Ericsson, Mike Green).

The Red Wings have decided not to trade Kronwall, which is not surprising. He is a respected veteran surely in his final season who they believe has earned the right to play his entire career in Detroit. He would need to request a move and there is no reason to believe he would do that.

Thomas Vanek has a no-trade clause, but his value would be limited even if agreed to waive it. The Red Wings received only a third-round pick from Florida for Vanek two years ago.

There are other trade possibilities. Perhaps a team will be interested in Daley, who has one year remaining at a reasonable cap hit for a veteran defenseman ($3.17 million). Maybe Toronto coach Mike Babcock’s interest in Luke Glendening will heat up again.

But unless the Red Wings start unloading players for whatever they can get, it might be a fairly quiet trade deadline.